Flexible intermediate bulk containers are increasingly employed in cargo handling and transporting situations, especially for the carriage of particulate or pulverulent material. A typical FIBC is manufactured from a fabric woven from a polyolefin tape and have integral lifting loops. Examples of such containers are described in UK patent numbers 1591091 and 1063816. FIBC's have to meet various national and international safety standards; for example it is normal to require a five to one safety ratio, that is, an IBC rated at one ton should not break under loads of less than five ton.
A recent trend in the FIBC field has been the increasing usage of extrusion coated fabrics in the manufacture of FIBC's to give moisture resistance without the requirement of a separate polyethylene liner. Extrusion coated FIBC's are not completely waterproof owing to the holes created by needle penetration during sewing in making up. However, designs for extrusion coated FIBC's have been proposed wherein very fine threads are employed and stuffer threads are used to fill the needle holes thereby giving much improved resistance to the passage of air, water or vapor.
More and more users are inflating the FIBC's prior to filling which is good practice to ensure even filling. For various reasons some users are inflating FIBC's to very high pressures and, in the absence of a polythene liner, the pressurized air can force its way through the finest of stitching and, where the filling product is a fine powder, entrained powder can be taken through with the air thus affecting the environment in the region of the filling machines. This is a specially acute problem where the contents are chemicals or fertilizers which may be noxious or otherwise harmful.
What is need is to provide a container bag and fill system to ameliorate the above cited problems.